The Blast in the Backseat
by ecv
Summary: For the Bonesology weekly challenge. Use the opening line "This might burn a little" and one of the provided ending lines. Hope you enjoy.


_A/N: For the Bonesology weekly challenge. Story should start and end with lines provided in the challenge. Hope you enjoy._

"This might burn a little."

"Just finish it, Booth," Bones demanded. She held the sides of the passenger seat in a white knuckled grip, in preparation of the pain that was sure to come.

Booth kneeling in front of her, looked up at her in concern, before nodding his head and dousing her leg with the liquid in his hand.

She hissed, and he rose quickly to his feet before pulling her into his arms, audience be damned. "Just breathe, Bones. It will hurt less if you breathe through it."

"I know this, Booth," she snapped through gritted teeth. "I have studied multiple variations of pain relief through my various anthropological studies. Many indigenous tribes used concoctions much more painful than this to fight off infection."

"Sure, Bones," Booth said, telling himself that he needed to breathe as well. But seeing her in pain always did something to his ability to compartmentalize the situation. And right at that moment, she was definitely in pain.

Knowing the hug was as much for her partner and husband as for her, Brennan patted his back awkwardly. "I'm okay, Booth. It's just a scratch."

Pulling back, he made a point of looking down at the leg she currently put no weight on. "That's no scratch, Bones. You've taken the top layer of skin off the front of that leg."

Silently cursing her decision to wear a skirt to work that day, something she rarely did, Brennan shrugged. "You always tell me you like my scars, Booth. You like to kiss them when we make love."

"Bones," Booth hissed, glaring at the crowd that looked on. "Don't you guys have something else to do," he snapped, waving his arm at the scene behind them. "Go find some evidence so we can catch the person who tried to kill Dr. Brennan."

The various techs gathered around them scattered, no one wanting to be the focus of Booth's ire at the moment. His temper was legendary when it came to Dr. Brennan, especially when she was injured.

"Booth," she reprimanded quietly. It was clear from the look on her face that she was still in pain, but Booth knew from experience she wouldn't admit to it. "You don't know for sure that someone tried to kill me."

He scrubbed a hand across his face. "Will you at least sit down?" he asked, much more abruptly than he intended to. But the last hour had been nothing but a nightmare while he imagined what kind of injuries Bones had surely suffered. To see it was nothing more than a skinned leg brought a rush of both relief and anger. She was alive, but had managed to get herself hurt, and that just pissed him off.

"Do you have a chair?" she asked. Her voice was cool, a clear warning he was dangerously close to crossing a line. Brennan knew he'd been scared and would give him a little leeway, but there was no way she was going to deal with Alpha-Booth right at that moment. Her leg hurt, and she had her own questions.

Instead, he pulled her back to him, taking most of her weight while he held her. "Sorry, Bones, you're phone call scared me to death."

"I'm fine, Booth, really. But perhaps you could open the back of the SUV and I could rest there while we start figuring things out."

He knew she made the request for him rather than herself, but he quickly helped her to the back and with sure hands on slim hips, lifted her to her requested seat.

"Better," she answered to the question he hadn't asked. "I think I did it when I pulled myself from my car." She leaned to try and look past him. "Have you seen my car?"

His eyes darkened and Brennan had her answer. "So you have seen it. It is as bad as I thought it was?"

"It's totaled, Bones. Most of the windows are blown out and the top is caved in from when it rolled. I'm surprised you got out of it at all."

Her eyes traveled down to her leg again. The skin was angry red where it had been scraped away as she'd pulled herself from her vehicle. "The opening did seem rather small when I pulled myself through it."

Booth turned from her to look toward the large contingent of FBI and Jeffersonian crime scene techs crawling over the field behind them. "What the hell were you doing out here, Bones?"

"I received a phone call, just this morning, asking me to come look at a recently discovered skeleton. I was to ascertain whether it was a more recent burial, or from a previous century. I left a message at the office for you."

"I got it," he confirmed. "At the same time I got the message telling me you were in an accident." A hand rubbed his face. "But accident is definitely not an accurate description of what happened. Your car was blown up, Bones."

She ignored the comment about her car. "I saw no reason for you to assist me, Booth. Given the location, it was much more likely a hiker had discovered an older burial. It shouldn't have taken much longer than the afternoon."

A screeching noise drew their attention and Booth cringed as her vehicle landed back on four very flat tires. Behind him, Booth heard her groan just a little at the sight of her car.

"It's just a car, Bones."

"I liked that car," she grumbled. "But you are, of course, correct. We have insurance and I can afford to purchase a replacement."

He knew he needed to go supervise the evidence collection. To make sure everything was being done to his wife's exacting standards. Instead, he sagged next to her. "Can you tell me what happened?"

"I can tell you. My leg is injured, not my brain."

He snickered. "I'm sure your brain in fine, Bones. Just tell me what happened."

"I received a phone call from a member of the National Park Service, asking me to come check out a skeleton. I received directions on which portion of the park the skeleton was in and proceeded to head that direction. I had the windows open, it was such a beautiful day when I heard this odd whistling noise." She shook her head. "The next thing I knew my car was upside down and I was crawling out of it."

"Dr. Brennan!" Hodgins called and both turned their head to watch them approach. "Are you aware there is a cannonball lodged in the back of your car?"

"Holy shit," Booth muttered, swallowing hard at the sudden urge to be sick. He rose to his feet, pushing hard at the images of her car being ten feet back when it had been struck.

"That explains the whistling noise," Brennan said. "They haven't used live fire at Gettysburg since the Civil War," she pointed out as Hodgins approached.

"I know." He looked almost giddy. "I had no idea a cannonball could do that kind of damage to a car."

"I don't need that pointed out," Booth snapped. "Bones was in the car at the time."

"Oh. Right." He fought down some of his enthusiasm. "Are you okay?"

"Fine," she reassured him. "Just my leg. Have you discovered where the cannonball came from?"

"Yes," Hodgins said. "We figured it out. Didn't take long. The perpetrators have already been arrested."

That got Booth's attention. "Where are they?" he demanded. He wanted a look at the people who'd just tried to murder his wife.

"Local police already took them away," Hodgins said. He took a step back at the look in the other man's eyes. "And before you go hunt them down, you should know they weren't aiming for Dr. Brennan."

"They hit her car with a cannonball!" Booth shouted, taking a step toward Hodgins. "They almost killed her."

"I didn't almost die, Booth," Brennan disagreed. "Try to calm down."

"Calm down! You want me to calm down?" His eyes shifted back and forth between the two scientists. "I'm going for a walk," he snapped. He took several steps toward the car, only to turn and walk the opposite direction. Having that in his sight probably wasn't a good idea right at that moment.

Brennan sighed and turned toward Hodgins. "He'll be fine. I think he might be a little upset."

Hodgins watched as Booth stormed away from them, yelling at several techs along the way. "Yep. Just a little. So do you want to know what happened?"

At Brennan's nod, Hodgins began his explanation. "You know how they have the reenactment of the battle here each year?"

"Of course, Dr. Hodgins. I have attended it several times."

"Well, apparently there were several participants setting up for the weekend. One of them brought his college age son and several of his friends. They thought it would be fun to try and shoot live ammunition from the cannon one of the adults brought with them. They figured since there was only field for a mile or so they'd be okay."

Another sickening screech sounded as her car was pulled onto a flatbed tow truck. "They were wrong," Brennan said bluntly. "But Booth will be relieved no one is trying to kill me."

An arm dropped across her shoulders. "Yes, Bones, at least no one is actively trying to kill you."

She turned her head to look up at him. "Did you hear what happened?"

"One of the techs was brave enough to inform me when I asked."

"Are you better?" she asked.

Booth nodded. "Are you ready to go back to DC?"

She shook her head. "I still have a skeleton to look at. You'll just have to come with me."

Groaning, Booth knew it was pointless to argue. "Fine, Bones. Maybe you can learn something else today."

Her eyes narrowed. "What have I already learned, Booth?"

"You learned why you never drive through a Civil War reenactment."


End file.
